Conscription

Conscription  (militarism)
"Conscription means writing someone's name on a list–a list that, unfortunately, a lot of people usually don't want to be on!"

Conscription is compulsory military service that typically requires all citizens of a country to enrol for one or two years, usually at age 18 (later for university-level students). Most conscripting countries conscript only men, but Norway, Sweden, Israel, Eritrea, Morocco and North Korea conscript both men and women.

Conscription has existed at least since ancient Egypt's Old Kingdom (27th century BC), though universal conscription has been rare throughout history.

Remerciements

The modern system of near-universal national conscription for young men dates to the French Revolution in the 1790s, where it became the basis of a very large and powerful military. Most European nations later copied the system in peacetime, so that men at a certain age would serve 1 to 8 years on active duty and then transfer to the reserve force.

In the US, conscription is called the draft and was first applied during the American Civil War, by both the North and the South. In the North, there were pockets of resistance, and conscription led to riots in several cities. The US abandoned the draft at the end of the war and didn't revive it until World War I.

Controversial

Conscription is controversial for a range of reasons, including conscientious objection to military engagements on religious or philosophical grounds; political objection, for example to service for a disliked government or unpopular war; sexism, in that historically men have been subject to the draft in the most cases; and ideological objection, for example, to a perceived violation of individual rights.

Those conscripted may evade service, sometimes by leaving the country, and seeking asylum in another country. Some selection systems accommodate these attitudes by providing alternative service outside combat-operations roles or even outside the military, such as siviilipalvelus (alternative civil service) in Finland and Zivildienst (compulsory community service) in Austria and Switzerland. Several countries conscript male soldiers not only for armed forces, but also for paramilitary agencies, which are dedicated to police-like domestic-only service like internal troops, border guards or non-combat rescue duties like civil defence.

UK election issue

On 26 May 2024, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that eighteen-year-olds will have to perform a mandatory national service if the Conservative Party is voted back to power in the United Kingdom’s July 4 election. The Conservatives have insisted the scheme does not amount to conscription.

A Labour Party spokesperson said:

“This is not a plan – it’s a review which could cost billions and is only needed because the Tories hollowed out the armed forces to their smallest size since Napoleon.”

Workers Party says NO

George Galloway posted on X:

"We warned you @10DowningStreet

"We will mobilise millions against any attempt to impose #Conscription

"Our young people will not die in America's wars. @WorkersPartyGB @No2NatoNo2War"

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